Unit Classes and Evolution (Patapon 2)
Patapon 2 adds Toripon, Robopon, and Mahopon on top of the classes returning from Patapon 1. The material-value Rarepon formula is replaced by a visual Evolution Map, a branching tree of 17 nodes that every unit progresses through independently. Memories sitting at six specific nodes permanently unlock new classes for your entire army.
Patapon 2 expands the roster from six combat classes to nine, adds independent unit progression, and replaces the material-math Rarepon system with a visual Evolution Map. Every unit can now evolve along branching paths, and reaching six specific nodes reveals Memories that unlock entirely new unit classes.
Returning Classes
These classes carry over from Patapon 1 with the same core roles. Their stats, equipment options, and combat behavior are largely unchanged.
| Class | Role | Quick Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Hatapon | Flag Bearer | Your army's anchor. Dies = mission over. |
| Yaripon | Spear Thrower | Medium range, solid damage. Your go-to all-rounder. |
| Tatepon | Shield Bearer | Frontline tank. Best unit for the Defend command. |
| Yumipon | Archer | Longest range, wind-dependent. Deadly in Fever Mode. |
| Kibapon | Cavalry | Fast melee burst. Charges ahead of the formation. |
| Dekapon | Heavy Hitter | Slowest unit, highest damage and HP. Splash damage. |
| Megapon | Horn Blower | Long-range sonic attacks. No wind dependency. |
New Classes (Patapon 2)
Toripon (Bird Rider)
| Stat | Rating |
|---|---|
| Range | Medium (aerial) |
| Damage | Medium |
| HP | Medium |
| Speed | Fast |
Toripons ride birds and throw javelins, attacking much like Yaripons do. In Fever they throw three javelins at once. As long as you keep the rhythm going, ground melee attacks cannot reach them, which makes them one of the safest damage dealers against melee-heavy bosses.
Best for: Bosses with no air attacks. Also strong against Karmen fortresses and structures.
Weakness: The immunity covers ground melee only. Enemy ranged units such as Yarimen and Yumimen still hit them, and being frozen or put to sleep drops them to the ground where melee finishes them off.
How to unlock: Evolve any Yaripon to the Sabara node to reveal Toripon's Memory.
Robopon (Mechanical Fighter)
| Stat | Rating |
|---|---|
| Range | Melee |
| Damage | Very High |
| HP | Medium |
| Speed | Medium |
Robopons are armored melee fighters who swing enormous robotic arms. Their signature is structure demolition, where nothing else in the army comes close, and they throw large rocks when you use the Charge command. A full Robopon squad is three units.
Best for: Karmen fortresses, walls and any mission built around breaking things. Their Hero Mode, Tornado Punch, is rated the second strongest in the game behind Megapon's.
Weakness: Not as tough as their armored look suggests. Their defense sits below Tatepon and their durability below Dekapon, so they are not a substitute for a frontline.
How to unlock: Evolve any Tatepon to the Kanokko node. That means pushing it through Buhyokko, Wanda and Chigyobi first, so budget for it.
Mahopon (Mage)
| Stat | Rating |
|---|---|
| Range | Medium-Long |
| Damage | Low-Medium |
| HP | Low |
| Speed | Medium |
Mahopons are the tribe's spellcasters, wielding staffs and scepters. Their abilities depend entirely on the staff they carry, not on the class itself. There are roughly eleven Mahopon spells: the Healing Staff restores HP, the Soothing Staff cures every status effect except Tumble and Knockback, the Defense Staff raises a barrier, and elemental staffs attack with fire, thunder or meteors. A full Mahopon squad is three units.
Best for: Long missions where attrition is the real threat, and any fight where sleep or freeze is shutting your army down. Pick the staff for the fight.
Weakness: Frail, and low damage unless you build them for it. Running Mahopons costs you a damage squad slot.
How to unlock: Evolve any Yumipon to the Koppen node to reveal Mahopon's Memory.
Mahopon's Hero Mode is not a heal. It is Hail Mary, a meteor barrage. Healing comes from the Healing Staff on ordinary Mahopon units, which is a different thing and does not require Hero Mode. No Hero Mode in Patapon 2 heals.
The Evolution Map
Patapon 2 replaces the material-value formula with a branching skill tree called the Evolution Map. You access it through Mater (the Tree of Life) at your base.
How It Works
- Select a unit from your army.
- Open the Evolution Map for that unit's class.
- Choose a Rarepon branch to evolve toward.
- Spend materials and Kaching to unlock the evolution.
- The unit transforms into the target Rarepon type.
Each unit has its own independent progression. Evolving one Yaripon into a Pyopyo does not evolve your other Yaripons. You must invest in each unit separately.
The 17-Node Map
The map has 17 nodes and it is a branching tree, not a single chain. Several nodes need two or even three parent Rarepons before they open, and that is what makes planning matter:
| Node | Evolves From |
|---|---|
| Normal | Starting point for every unit |
| Pyopyo | Normal |
| Buhyokko | Normal |
| Nyontama | Pyopyo |
| Fumya | Pyopyo |
| Wanda | Buhyokko |
| Menyokki | Pyopyo + Buhyokko |
| Chiku | Nyontama |
| Uhoho | Fumya |
| Chigyobi | Wanda |
| Koppen | Uhoho |
| Kanokko | Chigyobi |
| Mofu | Wanda + Menyokki |
| Mashu | Menyokki + Uhoho |
| Sabara | Chiku + Koppen |
| Mogyu | Mofu + Kanokko |
| Gyaba | Mofu + Mashu + Koppen |
Sabara, Mogyu and Gyaba are the three terminal nodes. Nothing evolves out of them, and at level 10 they become the three Ultimate Rarepons.
Material costs scale steeply with depth. Which material types a node asks for is set by the unit's class, not by the Rarepon, so a Yumipon and a Tatepon reaching the same node pay in different things.
Every base class gets its own copy of this same 17-node map, but the stat bonuses and elemental properties differ per class.
Memories
Memories sit at six specific nodes on the Evolution Map. When one of your units reaches the required node, the Memory appears and permanently unlocks that class for your entire army. Only the three base classes carry Memories, two each:
| Memory | Evolve This | To This Node | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kibapon's Memory | Any Yaripon | Pyopyo | Kibapon class |
| Toripon's Memory | Any Yaripon | Sabara | Toripon class |
| Dekapon's Memory | Any Tatepon | Wanda | Dekapon class |
| Robopon's Memory | Any Tatepon | Kanokko | Robopon class |
| Megapon's Memory | Any Yumipon | Menyokki | Megapon class |
| Mahopon's Memory | Any Yumipon | Koppen | Mahopon class |
You only need one unit to reach the node. The unlock is permanent and army-wide, so there is no reason to push a second unit down the same path for the Memory alone. The Yaripon, Tatepon and Yumipon Memories themselves come from the story, not from the map.
The map enforces real bottlenecks. Robopon is the clearest case: you cannot reach Kanokko without first taking a Tatepon through Buhyokko, Wanda and Chigyobi. That means farming intermediate-tier materials you have no other use for before the class you actually want opens up. Plan the path before you start spending.
Rarepon Characteristics
Stats below are the level 10 values, since every Rarepon grows as you level it.
| Rarepon | Key Stats | Best On |
|---|---|---|
| Pyopyo | Fastest movement speed, +20% knockback ratio, immune to Freeze | Kibapon (stacks with cavalry speed) |
| Buhyokko | +200 HP, and immunity to knockback, which is the real draw, not the HP | Tatepon (holding a line) |
| Nyontama | Solid balanced growth. A common pick for Dekapon Heroes | Dekapon |
| Fumya | +130% crit ratio and much faster attacks, but vulnerable to Ice | Ranged damage builds |
| Wanda | +100/+100 damage, the best flat damage growth on the map. Costs you 40% crit ratio and leaves you weak to sleep | Any plain damage role |
| Menyokki | +500 HP and +200% Cnc (stagger), with -80% ignite resistance | Yumipon (boss stagger farming). The premier stagger Rarepon. |
| Chiku | Fastest attack speed in the game. Still gains +100 HP, +10/+10 damage and +20% crit, so it is not the pure glass cannon it is often described as | Yumipon, Megapon |
| Uhoho | Mid-tier node, the gateway to both Koppen and Mashu | Path node |
| Chigyobi | All-rounder, immune to Critical, Knockback and Stagger | Tatepon |
| Mofu | +400 HP, immune to Critical, Knockback and Stagger. Slower attacks and almost no damage growth | Tatepon (anti-crit tank) |
| Koppen | Freeze specialist: +250% freeze ratio and freeze immunity, but weak to Fire and Electricity | Freeze builds |
| Kanokko | All-rounder with good HP and damage, immune to Critical, Knockback and Stagger | Robopon |
| Mashu | +300% knockback and sleep ratios, plus sleep immunity. Note it mostly inflicts sleep instead of merely resisting it | Stagger farming, and Dettankarmen |
| Sabara | +400% crit ratio, the highest on the map. Moves faster than normal, though the in-game text promising 1.2x attack speed is wrong | Yaripon (crit builds) |
| Mogyu | +0/+400 damage and +350 HP, at the cost of the slowest attack speed in the game | Dekapon (raw hits) |
| Gyaba | +300 HP, halves non-elemental damage, immune to Ignite | Elemental tanking |
Ultimate Rarepons
The Ultimate Rarepons are not extra nodes past the map. Every Rarepon has three appearance stages, covering levels 1-4, 5-9 and 10, and the Ultimates are simply the three terminal nodes at level 10. Sabara becomes Babassa, Mogyu becomes Mogyugyu, Gyaba becomes Wagyanba.
Patapon 2 has five material tiers, one more than Patapon 1. The quantities below are the total cost of taking that Rarepon from level 1 to level 10.
| Ultimate | What It Is | Total Materials to Level 10 | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babassa (Angel) | Sabara at level 10 | 15, 18, 15 and 9 units at material tiers 5, 4, 3 and 3 | +400% critical ratio, +100 HP, +30/+30 damage, complete sleep immunity |
| Mogyugyu (Devil) | Mogyu at level 10 | 18, 15, 15 and 6 units at tiers 4, 5, 3 and 4 | +0/+400 damage, +350 HP, +100% stagger. The highest raw damage in the game |
| Wagyanba (Dragon) | Gyaba at level 10 | 15, 15, 12 and 6 units at tiers 5, 5, 4 and 4 | +300 HP, halves all non-elemental damage, complete immunity to Ignite |
Which material types those tiers translate to depends on the unit's class, not on the Rarepon, so the same node costs a Yumipon and a Tatepon different things.
Two widely repeated claims about these are backwards. Mogyugyu is the slowest Rarepon in the game, not a speed boost, so pair it with something that does not need to swing often. And Wagyanba halves everything except fire, ice and electricity, which take normal damage. It is not an elemental absorber, it is the opposite, and on ice or electric stages Koppen or Nyontama will serve you better.
Recommended Evolution Priorities
Early Game
- Evolve your Tatepons to Buhyokko. Knockback immunity does more for a frontline than raw HP does.
- Evolve at least one Yaripon to Pyopyo for speed. That also hands you Kibapon's Memory on the way.
- Take a Tatepon to Wanda for Dekapon's Memory, and a Yumipon to Menyokki for Megapon's.
Mid Game
- Push a Tatepon through Wanda and Chigyobi to Kanokko to unlock Robopons.
- Take a Yumipon to Koppen to unlock Mahopons, then pick staffs to suit each fight.
- Build Menyokki Yumipons once you start farming bosses seriously. Menyokki is the stagger Rarepon and it pays for itself in materials.
Late Game
- Take a Yaripon to Sabara. It unlocks Toripon's Memory and becomes Babassa at level 10.
- Complete all three Evolution Map achievements (Yaripon, Tatepon, Yumipon) by unlocking every Memory on those maps.
- Choose your Ultimate for the fight and never by reputation. Babassa for crit, Mogyugyu for raw damage on a unit that does not need to swing fast, and Wagyanba only where the incoming damage is not elemental.
Pyokola, Gekolos, Mofeel and Tikulee are Patapon 1 Rarepons and do not exist in Patapon 2. No node on any class's Evolution Map produces them, so treat any mention of them as a Patapon 1 fact.
Do not spread your materials across every unit. Pick three to four "carry" units and max their evolution first. A single Babassa Yumipon deals more damage than an entire squad of basic Patapons.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you unlock Robopon in Patapon 2?
Push a Tatepon to the Kanokko node on the Evolution Map, which means going through Buhyokko, Wanda and Chigyobi first. Reaching Kanokko reveals Robopon's Memory and permanently unlocks the class for your entire army.
How do you unlock Toripon and Mahopon?
Evolve any Yaripon to the Sabara node for Toripon's Memory, and any Yumipon to the Koppen node for Mahopon's Memory. One unit reaching the node is enough, and the unlock is army-wide.
Does evolving one unit evolve the whole squad?
No. Each unit has its own independent progression. Evolving one Yaripon into a Pyopyo does not evolve your other Yaripons, so you have to invest in each unit separately.
Which Rarepon is best for boss stagger farming?
Menyokki, which at level 10 grants +500 HP and +200 percent Cnc, the stagger stat. Pair it with Mashu, since a stagger landed while the boss is asleep or knocked back guarantees a better material. The trade-off is an 80 percent ignite resistance penalty, so keep Menyokki away from fire bosses.
What are the Ultimate Rarepons and what do they do?
They are the three terminal nodes at level 10 and not extra nodes. Babassa, the Sabara form, gives +400 percent crit ratio and sleep immunity. Mogyugyu, the Mogyu form, gives +0/+400 damage and +350 HP but is the slowest Rarepon in the game. Wagyanba, the Gyaba form, halves all non-elemental damage and is immune to Ignite, though fire, ice and electricity still hit it normally.
For where to farm the materials and Kaching needed for evolution, see Materials and Farming.
What to Read Next
- Hero Mode. The Hero unit sitting on top of your classes.
- Materials and Farming. Evolution Map material requirements.
- Boss Guide. Compositions per Patapon 2 encounter.
- Rhythm and Commands. Commands shared across both games.